The Eberdonn
As you read the ‘Magic Horsebox’ series of books, you’ll learn a lot more about all the characters, including the evil Eberdonn. While you’re waiting for the next instalment (eagerly I hope), I thought you might like to read my background notes about some of the characters and the history of the Eberdonn, us humans and our relationship with horses. Remember as you read this, though, that the Eberdonn are completely fictitious and you will learn more over time. (There’s no spoilers here, I promise.)
A History of the Eberdonn:
The first modern humans, Homo Sapiens (that’s us), were a pitiful breed of walking apes. We were clever but weak, hairless, suffering in the cold of the ice ages. We had no claws or tusks to defend us. In small groups in the forest, we foraged for berries and hunted for small animals to eat and we struggled to survive. Roaming the earth, we were just one of a number of evolving sentient creatures. From the Neanderthals in the mountains, Homo Sapiens learned to make hunting weapons and clothes from animal fur. From the Eberdonn of the plains, Homo Sapiens stole fire. At last Homo Sapiens had a chance of survival.
But the Eberdonn were a cruel race of proto-man, considering themselves to be ‘Homo Superior’. In some ways they are physically superior. They have sturdier skulls, a more resilient skeleton, a thick hide rather than frail skin. Homo Sapiens are feeble by comparison and in the minds of the Eberdonn, we feeble cousins should never have survived, let alone become the most populous race of walking apes.
However Homo Sapiens have a skill that the Eberdonn lack - we have empathy. We have the ability to feel as other species feel, to reach out to animals and perceive the world from their point of view. While the Eberdonn sought dominance of the planet, we knew we were feeble and needed help, so we went in search of help from other species – domesticating horses, cattle, elephants, dogs etc. We worked in partnership and survived. (Of course, we have more recently strayed from this path, and this is not all the fault of the Eberdonn.)
Early horses too roamed the plains, avoiding contact with all the walking apes. They distrusted the cruel Eberdonn who hunted them with fiery sticks, tied them up and forced them into hard labour.
Maya was the leader of these early horses, a powerful mare with many sons, the eldest called Spirit who was born with strange powers, able to control and become part of the winds of the plains. Maya had the ability to find food in the most desolate places and so her herd prospered and escaped the cruelty of the Eberdonn.
One day Maya met her first Homo Sapien, a young human boy out hunting with his spear. She could see he was starving. He could have killed her for food, but instead he put down his spear and approached her with kindness. She quickly realised that the Homo Sapiens were different – these walking apes had kind hearts, soft hands, warm voices. She helped the boy find vegetables under the earth, things he could eat. She laughed when he tried grass and spat it out. The horses watched with interest as the humans learned to grow food and shared it with the horses, and in turn, Maya and her descendants formed a bond with humans that would last for millennia, creating our civilisations together.
But as the humans mastered metals, things changed. At first, the metals were useful – shoes to protect the horses’ hooves, bridles and stirrups that made riding easier for both humans and horses. But the metals became machines and as the centuries rolled by, the humans didn’t need the horses anymore. Our descendants forgot about the special bond that had created our world. We lost our way.
Meanwhile the Eberdonn waited. They continued to roam the earth, hiding within the growing human cities, whispering war and cruelty to the humans, and sometimes we humans listened to the Eberdonn and used horses to fight our wars, much to the Eberdonn’ delight. As Homo Sapiens became alienated from our past associations with horses, pulling away from the natural world and all its magical properties, favouring our computers and our cars, the Eberdonn saw their moment to take back the earth and rid the world of humans once and for all.
And that moment is now coming to pass. Human civilisation is blind to the threat, destroying the forests, bringing animals to extinction, poisoning the air with our machines. And soon the earth will not be able to support human life and the Eberdonn will rise again and take back the earth. But there is hope...
Because the bond has not been completely forgotten. The horses certainly have not forgotten and within each generation, there are special horses born with strange abilities. Spirit can control the wind, dissolve into mist. This powerful son of the ‘first horse’ Maya can pass through time, a Spirit that lives on, but at the start of the first book, he has been captured by the evil magic of the Eberdonn. Winnie (the highwayman’s horse) can defy gravity, not exactly fly, but she can leap higher than any other horse. And with each book, you will learn more about these magical beings struggling for survival.
And in each generation of humans, the horses can find a few who will help them continue the battle against the Eberdonn. Often these humans are blacksmiths and farriers or riders with special abilities; humans who are born with some innate need to be with horses, to care for them and re-establish that special bond with the natural world.
And Josh Carter and Megan Banks are two such special people. Little do they know they are embarking on a great adventure...
A History of the Eberdonn:
The first modern humans, Homo Sapiens (that’s us), were a pitiful breed of walking apes. We were clever but weak, hairless, suffering in the cold of the ice ages. We had no claws or tusks to defend us. In small groups in the forest, we foraged for berries and hunted for small animals to eat and we struggled to survive. Roaming the earth, we were just one of a number of evolving sentient creatures. From the Neanderthals in the mountains, Homo Sapiens learned to make hunting weapons and clothes from animal fur. From the Eberdonn of the plains, Homo Sapiens stole fire. At last Homo Sapiens had a chance of survival.
But the Eberdonn were a cruel race of proto-man, considering themselves to be ‘Homo Superior’. In some ways they are physically superior. They have sturdier skulls, a more resilient skeleton, a thick hide rather than frail skin. Homo Sapiens are feeble by comparison and in the minds of the Eberdonn, we feeble cousins should never have survived, let alone become the most populous race of walking apes.
However Homo Sapiens have a skill that the Eberdonn lack - we have empathy. We have the ability to feel as other species feel, to reach out to animals and perceive the world from their point of view. While the Eberdonn sought dominance of the planet, we knew we were feeble and needed help, so we went in search of help from other species – domesticating horses, cattle, elephants, dogs etc. We worked in partnership and survived. (Of course, we have more recently strayed from this path, and this is not all the fault of the Eberdonn.)
Early horses too roamed the plains, avoiding contact with all the walking apes. They distrusted the cruel Eberdonn who hunted them with fiery sticks, tied them up and forced them into hard labour.
Maya was the leader of these early horses, a powerful mare with many sons, the eldest called Spirit who was born with strange powers, able to control and become part of the winds of the plains. Maya had the ability to find food in the most desolate places and so her herd prospered and escaped the cruelty of the Eberdonn.
One day Maya met her first Homo Sapien, a young human boy out hunting with his spear. She could see he was starving. He could have killed her for food, but instead he put down his spear and approached her with kindness. She quickly realised that the Homo Sapiens were different – these walking apes had kind hearts, soft hands, warm voices. She helped the boy find vegetables under the earth, things he could eat. She laughed when he tried grass and spat it out. The horses watched with interest as the humans learned to grow food and shared it with the horses, and in turn, Maya and her descendants formed a bond with humans that would last for millennia, creating our civilisations together.
But as the humans mastered metals, things changed. At first, the metals were useful – shoes to protect the horses’ hooves, bridles and stirrups that made riding easier for both humans and horses. But the metals became machines and as the centuries rolled by, the humans didn’t need the horses anymore. Our descendants forgot about the special bond that had created our world. We lost our way.
Meanwhile the Eberdonn waited. They continued to roam the earth, hiding within the growing human cities, whispering war and cruelty to the humans, and sometimes we humans listened to the Eberdonn and used horses to fight our wars, much to the Eberdonn’ delight. As Homo Sapiens became alienated from our past associations with horses, pulling away from the natural world and all its magical properties, favouring our computers and our cars, the Eberdonn saw their moment to take back the earth and rid the world of humans once and for all.
And that moment is now coming to pass. Human civilisation is blind to the threat, destroying the forests, bringing animals to extinction, poisoning the air with our machines. And soon the earth will not be able to support human life and the Eberdonn will rise again and take back the earth. But there is hope...
Because the bond has not been completely forgotten. The horses certainly have not forgotten and within each generation, there are special horses born with strange abilities. Spirit can control the wind, dissolve into mist. This powerful son of the ‘first horse’ Maya can pass through time, a Spirit that lives on, but at the start of the first book, he has been captured by the evil magic of the Eberdonn. Winnie (the highwayman’s horse) can defy gravity, not exactly fly, but she can leap higher than any other horse. And with each book, you will learn more about these magical beings struggling for survival.
And in each generation of humans, the horses can find a few who will help them continue the battle against the Eberdonn. Often these humans are blacksmiths and farriers or riders with special abilities; humans who are born with some innate need to be with horses, to care for them and re-establish that special bond with the natural world.
And Josh Carter and Megan Banks are two such special people. Little do they know they are embarking on a great adventure...
But a little more about the Eberdonn: As we survived against the odds, the Eberdonn became angry, jealous, bitter. Our settlements left the forests and spread across their plains, forcing the Eberdonn into hiding. Early tribes of Homo Sapiens encountering the Eberdonn in the shadows saw them as otherworldly and so coined the name Eberdonn meaning ‘of the other realm’. This was mistakenly later translated as ‘of the underworld’ when some people thought that ‘other realm’ was beneath the ground. In fact the Celts and others have always seen this ‘other realm as existing in parallel to our material reality, accessible via mysterious portals on the plains of the Earth. To the Celtic tribes and others, it seemed as though the Eberdonn were capable of appearing as if from nowhere.
The Eberdonn frequently call themselves the Bamfields or Bampfyldes, with a variety of spellings over the generations, a name that means to them ‘owners of the grasslands’. Over time, they would also be known as the Crimson Skins because when an Eberdonn being is angry, his or her skin becomes mottled with red, far more so than any Homo Sapien. It’s like flames creeping up their faces and so the Eberdonn who frequently walk among us, hiding in plain sight, can sometimes be identified if they get angry, revealing their unusual pigmentation.
The Eberdonn race appears to be like us in many ways, but they have specific characteristics. Their hair tends to be more like straw, and ranges in colour from ash blonde to auburn. Their eyes are a rust colour rather like the eyes of an orang-utan. Their skin is noticeably thicker, with an orange hue on their bodies when they are healthy, and patterned like elephant hide in places, though their faces and hands much less so. Their faces and hands tend to be pale and soft in contrast to the rest of their bodies, though their fingernails are much tougher than those of Homo Sapiens. In order to hide in human society, the Eberdonn wear clothes all over, hiding their necks and wrists, even in the hottest weather. Only when rage rises into their faces can they be identified as the Crimson Skins.
In their bitterness, and lacking empathy, the Crimson Skins have become brutal. When the Neanderthals helped early Homo Sapiens, the Eberdonn set about destroying the Neanderthal, eradicating this slow but kind-hearted species from the planet. (What the Eberdonn don’t realise is the Neanderthal genome didn’t die out as Homo Sapiens bred with them.)
Mankind, helped by horses, then stole fire from the Eberdonn, and the Eberdonn set about destroying Homo Sapiens too, but failed because of our partnerships with horses (for transport) and dogs (as guards). So the Crimson Skins tried catching horses and dogs but the animals would not work for the Crimson Skins and their bitterness towards Homo Sapiens increased.
The Eberdonn were masters with metal, working with fire, imbuing magical properties into the metals, such as magnetism and electricity, but also curses and dark forces. The Eberdonn tried to eradicate all other humans with metal-tipped spears and primitive electrical cables that could electrocute the feeble Homo Sapiens. But again the horses helped the Homo Sapiens, sensing danger, and the Homo Sapiens found the metal objects and re-fashioned them into horse-shoes as a thank you to the horses, and eventually bridles and stirrups to help us ride.
Soon the Homo Sapiens were working with metals themselves, creating weapons and machines, and then the Eberdonn saw that they could destroy the Homo Sapiens using those same machines, overcoming our empathetic abilities by creating wars and destroying our need for partnerships with animals.
In the time of the legendary Arthur of Camelot, Megan and Josh encounter the Eberdonn 'ogre' called Bamfeld. Bamfeld is angry and wreaking revenge on Homo Sapiens by stealing all their women. If they can’t breed, then Homo Sapiens will die out and Bamfeld will have all the horses to himself. He is also angry at women as an Eberdonn woman has betrayed her kind and married a Homo Sapien male and their offspring – Morgana - has abilities that the contemporary Homo Sapiens consider as magic.
Morgana has Eberdonn blood. She is Arthur’s half-sister, her mother the Eberdonn warrior called Epona who loved horses so much that she became a protector of horses against her own people. Morgana’s father Uther Pendragon married Epona and they had Morgana, but Epona could not live with Uther Pendragon and they separated, Uther then went on to marry Igraine and they had Arthur.
It is difficult to know whether or not Morgana can be trusted. Is she fighting against the Eberdonn, like her mother, or has she joined with her Uncle Bamfeld to destroy all Home Sapiens and take the horses for themselves? Only time will tell.
In 1658, Bamfeld’s descendant is Sheriff Bampfylde, attacking Tom Faggus and wanting Winnie for himself. The Eberdonn are now realising that there are special horses in each generation who must be defeated if the Eberdonn are to take control. In each generation, the battle begins again.
The Eberdonn are calling themselves Bamfeld or Bamfylde, pretending they are just like us, but creating wars and alienating us from our special relationship with horses and the natural world. Waiting in the wings as it were, with their magical influences, urging us to destroy ourselves, and then the Eberdonn can take the planet for themselves.
But there’s something about evolution the Eberdonn have forgotten....
The Eberdonn frequently call themselves the Bamfields or Bampfyldes, with a variety of spellings over the generations, a name that means to them ‘owners of the grasslands’. Over time, they would also be known as the Crimson Skins because when an Eberdonn being is angry, his or her skin becomes mottled with red, far more so than any Homo Sapien. It’s like flames creeping up their faces and so the Eberdonn who frequently walk among us, hiding in plain sight, can sometimes be identified if they get angry, revealing their unusual pigmentation.
The Eberdonn race appears to be like us in many ways, but they have specific characteristics. Their hair tends to be more like straw, and ranges in colour from ash blonde to auburn. Their eyes are a rust colour rather like the eyes of an orang-utan. Their skin is noticeably thicker, with an orange hue on their bodies when they are healthy, and patterned like elephant hide in places, though their faces and hands much less so. Their faces and hands tend to be pale and soft in contrast to the rest of their bodies, though their fingernails are much tougher than those of Homo Sapiens. In order to hide in human society, the Eberdonn wear clothes all over, hiding their necks and wrists, even in the hottest weather. Only when rage rises into their faces can they be identified as the Crimson Skins.
In their bitterness, and lacking empathy, the Crimson Skins have become brutal. When the Neanderthals helped early Homo Sapiens, the Eberdonn set about destroying the Neanderthal, eradicating this slow but kind-hearted species from the planet. (What the Eberdonn don’t realise is the Neanderthal genome didn’t die out as Homo Sapiens bred with them.)
Mankind, helped by horses, then stole fire from the Eberdonn, and the Eberdonn set about destroying Homo Sapiens too, but failed because of our partnerships with horses (for transport) and dogs (as guards). So the Crimson Skins tried catching horses and dogs but the animals would not work for the Crimson Skins and their bitterness towards Homo Sapiens increased.
The Eberdonn were masters with metal, working with fire, imbuing magical properties into the metals, such as magnetism and electricity, but also curses and dark forces. The Eberdonn tried to eradicate all other humans with metal-tipped spears and primitive electrical cables that could electrocute the feeble Homo Sapiens. But again the horses helped the Homo Sapiens, sensing danger, and the Homo Sapiens found the metal objects and re-fashioned them into horse-shoes as a thank you to the horses, and eventually bridles and stirrups to help us ride.
Soon the Homo Sapiens were working with metals themselves, creating weapons and machines, and then the Eberdonn saw that they could destroy the Homo Sapiens using those same machines, overcoming our empathetic abilities by creating wars and destroying our need for partnerships with animals.
In the time of the legendary Arthur of Camelot, Megan and Josh encounter the Eberdonn 'ogre' called Bamfeld. Bamfeld is angry and wreaking revenge on Homo Sapiens by stealing all their women. If they can’t breed, then Homo Sapiens will die out and Bamfeld will have all the horses to himself. He is also angry at women as an Eberdonn woman has betrayed her kind and married a Homo Sapien male and their offspring – Morgana - has abilities that the contemporary Homo Sapiens consider as magic.
Morgana has Eberdonn blood. She is Arthur’s half-sister, her mother the Eberdonn warrior called Epona who loved horses so much that she became a protector of horses against her own people. Morgana’s father Uther Pendragon married Epona and they had Morgana, but Epona could not live with Uther Pendragon and they separated, Uther then went on to marry Igraine and they had Arthur.
It is difficult to know whether or not Morgana can be trusted. Is she fighting against the Eberdonn, like her mother, or has she joined with her Uncle Bamfeld to destroy all Home Sapiens and take the horses for themselves? Only time will tell.
In 1658, Bamfeld’s descendant is Sheriff Bampfylde, attacking Tom Faggus and wanting Winnie for himself. The Eberdonn are now realising that there are special horses in each generation who must be defeated if the Eberdonn are to take control. In each generation, the battle begins again.
The Eberdonn are calling themselves Bamfeld or Bamfylde, pretending they are just like us, but creating wars and alienating us from our special relationship with horses and the natural world. Waiting in the wings as it were, with their magical influences, urging us to destroy ourselves, and then the Eberdonn can take the planet for themselves.
But there’s something about evolution the Eberdonn have forgotten....